GM has recently announced that the two-wheel drive version of the 2013 Buick Encore which is powered by a 1.4-liter turbocharged Ecotec engine connected to a 6-speed automatic transmission and will go on sale in the earlier parts of 2013 obtained the estimated fuel economy ratings of 25 miles per gallon in the city and 33 miles per gallon on the highway.
General Motors’ claim which states that the 2013 Buick Encore would obtain the rating of 33 miles per gallon on the highway was actually based on the company’s own estimation. This simply means that the said rating is not yet considered official until the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA, the agency which is tasked to evaluate the mileage ratings of vehicles sold in the US would be able to provide their own estimates.
But in the event that company’s estimation of the vehicle’s fuel economy rating is correct, General Motors proudly claims that the 2013 Buick Encore will most likely be considered as the most fuel-efficient crossover SUV model that was domestically produced. However, a lot of car experts were not convinced with the claims that General Motors has provided.
Based on their own observations, a lot of car experts were quite sure that the 2013 Buick Encore’s estimated fuel economy rating on the highway will probably be achieved by other SUV models on the segment.
The 2013 Ford Escape which is powered by a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission for example got the EPA-estimated highway rating of 33 miles per gallon and this is similar to what the Encore is expected to provide.
Thus, General Motors’ statement which claims that the 2013 Buick Encore will soon be considered as the most fuel-efficient domestically produced SUV may not always be true most especially when it comes to the fuel economy rating on the highway since the latest version of the Ford Escape has also achieved the same score.
But despite of the possibility that the highway rating that the 2013 Ford Escape has obtained and what the 2013 Buick Encore might achieve are the same, the estimated mileage ratings of the latter are still better compared to some of its closest rivals such as the 2013 Jeep Compass and the 2013 Acura RDX.
According to EPA, the 2013 Jeep Compass returns 23 miles per gallon in the city and 30 miles per gallon on the highway. The 2013 Acura RDX on the other hand returns 20 miles per gallon in the city and 28 miles per gallon on the highway.
